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Little Advice on a Epson 9800 please
Hi Guys and Gals,
I am thinking of finally buying a large format printer and have been offered one at a good price. As in the title its a Epson 9800. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this printer and what their thoughts were, I know its not the latest all singing and dancing model but I believe it still does a very good job.
I would be using it for Canvas prints, large format photos, fine art stuff and the occasioinal vinyl small wrap, digital wallpaper etc.
Any advice or help would be really appreciated. 🙂 Thank you in advance.
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11 Replies
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No experience with the model sorry Craig but it will be no good for any sort of wrap work. As far as I know there are no manufacturers of media suitable for wrapping for dye & pigment ink printers.
Printer may be at a good price but generally media for these machines is more expensive as it has to be coated. There is a reasonably large range of media that they will print to but not as large as a solvent printer which will print to uncoated media. -
The 9800 is a great printer, i doubt you’ll be able to print in 300dpi so you’ll have to print at a slower option but 720 should come out great. Like Martin said, you won’t be able to do any vinyl work with it but if you intend to use it just for canvasses fine art etc, it’s at a decent price and you’ve got the space, go for it.
Just be aware, you will not be able to do any exterior signs etc with it / or expect it to last.
Hope this helps
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Hi, I have 7880 pro and its been running great for over 2 years now, I can print at 1400dpi on that and its great for canvasses and poster prints. I do a lot of paper banners on mine probably about 10-20 meters a day. I have been using a continuous ink system also so it only cost me about £18 for 200ml, much better than £65 a cart.
If your buying 2nd hand I would definitely recommend continuous ink, if you drop me a line I will give you my supplier, the ink is great, I clean the heads every morning when I come in the office before the first print.
I have never tried it on vinyl, but there are some good suppliers that provide pigment specific digital media, colourbyte is one.
My canvas prints are excellent quality. A couple of tips, avoid borderless printing if you can, I find the overlap pads get soaked very quickly and are hard to clean, I have yet to find someone who provides replacement felts. Also if your printing canvas, don’t let the printer cut the canvas for you, always print a page line and cut off with a good pear of scissors. If you allow the blade in the machine to cut the canvas, you risk getting canvas coating dust on the print heads.
Finally, don’t bother buying ink maintenance trays, they are expensive. Just get a chip re-setter and when they are full, throw away the pads inside and replace with tightly packed sponges (the small dish washing ones are perfect)
I hope this helps a little
BigMo
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thank you so much for your advice. It will mainly be photographs and canvas’s. But obv if I could do the occasional vinyl with laminate etc then great, but if I can’t then its not the end of the world.
Everyone has their own opinion, but at the sametime you have to start somewhere, unfortunately not everyone has a spare £50K to get the best solvent printer out there etc.
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Craig, your right not everyone has a spare pot of gold for buying equipment but it’s also no good buying equipment that isn’t suitable just because it’s cheap and you have to start somewhere.
If you have a market for canvas prints and photos then it will probably be a good buy, if you don’t then with all the people doing them I would think it’s a difficult market to crack.
You might be best trying to build the business first before you make a purchase, find a good trade printer and use them for your prints while the business grows. Then at some point in the future look to buying a machine and bringing it in house.
That is the way I would go if I were looking at getting into digital printing. Just so you know I don’t have a pile of spare cash or a digital printer so I am pretty much in the same position as you as far as equipment goes.
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Well I am actually a Freelance Photographer so to be able to print PR work and canvas’s in house would be excellent.
Plus it will be a nice add-on to my current small sign business.
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Craig
We have had the Epson 9800 for about 4 or 5 years now and not had one problem with it. It isn’t used every day because we got it mainly to do artworks for the screen printing department.
It could be left for a month and you just switch it on, give it a quick clean and you’re ready to go. The ultrachrome inks are good for up to 70 years apparently
Never had the need for an Engineer as nothing has ever gone wrong
This printer is one I would have no hesitation in recommending at all….obviously if you are buying second hand the risks are the same as anything else
Great bit of kit
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Well I think I will give it ago! It be a nice addition.
And whats the worse that can happen I loose the investment I put into it but you have to speculate to accumulate. 🙂
But I would of thought I could sell it on again.
Everyone I have spoke to says it is a reliable machine and the quality is great.
We shall see. Thanks for all your help guys.
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I have a Epson 10600 which uses ultrachrome inks, its eariler than the 9800 but essentially the same machine, very reliable and will do all the things you listed except vinyl work which i use a mimaki jv3 for.
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One last quick question.
How much do you think a Epson 9800 is worth these days? Just want to double check it is a bargain.
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seen them around £300 to £1000 might be worth checking which head they use on that one. prices jump also make sure it is using pigmented inks.
as said great print quality on the right materials.
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